A memory, now the present.
Stepping out into the fading light of the dying day Zed started walking in the direction the bartender had nodded towards. The streets were still crowded in this part of the town at night though, and Zed found himself shouldering past more than one group of people clumped together. As he was exiting such a clump of humanity he felt a hand groping for his coin bag. Reacting without even looking his hand snapped back and latched onto the wrist of the would-be pick pocket. He jerked his arm forward, tearing the thief out of balance and forcing her to stumble into his view. Wrapping his arm around her throat he carried her bodily to the nearest alley while she choked and kicked and tried to free herself. Before disappearing into the alley Zed took a look back into the street to assess the situation. Plenty of people had seen but none of them made any move to help the girl. Once he had moved them deep enough into the alley to avoid being seen from those walking the streets Zed pinned her to the wall with his forearm at her throat. She could not have been more than fourteen years old he realized instantly, and a small and skinny fourteen year old at that. Raw fear shown brightly in her eyes and when Zed released some of the pressure on her throat she made to scream. Zed covered her mouth with his hand and whispered to her “If you scream things will not go well for you.” Tears began to pour from her eyes and Zed suddenly realized what she must think was coming. Releasing his pin on her throat he instead crossed his arms over his chest and continued. “You should not have made me your mark. Doing so unassisted was even stupider. However, I have no intention of… assaulting you.” Zed said the word with a feeling of distaste. “I need to find a man. I’ll even make it profitable for you. Have you ever heard of a man named Sully? He would be known to frequent a place called Rall’s?” The girl started to dry her eyes and nodded as she spoke “I can’t, he’ll hurt me.” Zed sighed. He didn’t want to waste a lot of time with this girl and he was already tired and irritable from the day of travel. “How has he hurt you? No, forget I asked. If you tell me what he looks like and where this Rall’s place is I’ll just fucking kill him when I’m done with him.” The thief looked shocked for a moment and then looked Zed up and down for a moment. “He has a lot of friends in Rall’s, I don’t know if you will be able to do it.” Zed snarled and spawned a shadow behind himself. Grabbing the girl’s wrist he pinned it to the wall and growled directly into her face. “I can take care of myself. Now tell me what I want to know or I start breaking limbs.” Her face whitened and she babbled on, telling Zed everything he wanted to know and a few things he did not really need to hear. He knew for certain after she finished that this Sully would die. When she finished telling him everything he needed to know Zed tossed her a handful of gold coins, more than she would have made in a month on her own.
When he arrived at Rall’s place he was struck by a foul smell that was reminiscent of puke mixed with some sort of Citrus. Inside the establishment it was better. On the inside it smelled of smoke and alcohol. Sure enough, there was Sully sitting in a back corner of the tavern with his back to a wall already talking to someone. Sully was an old man, his patchy beard white with age. He was missing his left eye and his hair had begun to recede. After all he had heard about this man Zed was not in much of a mood to wait for him to finish his conversation. Zed walked up behind whoever Sully was speaking with and grabbed him under his armpits, eliciting a squawk of surprise. Zed turned and hurled the man through the air to crash through a table sending beer and bread flying everywhere. The men that were sitting at the table scrambled to their feet cursing and reaching for concealed weapons. Sully held up a hand to motion for them to stop, then slapped his hand down on the table to get Zed’s attention saying “You got some kinda nerve comin’ in here and pullin’ that shit. Who the fuck do you think you are interrupting my business?” Zed spun the chair in front of him around so that he could straddle it and lean over the back of the chair to stare down the old man. “I’m here for information. I ask questions, you provide answers. If I like your answers, you don’t die.” Sully leaned back in his chair and began to laugh at the master of shadows and growled out “You think you can come in here like you own the place? Well I got news for you buddy, my friends and I here are gonna-” the growl turned into a horrified scream when Zed slammed a knife through his hand, pinning it to the table and shattering the bone. Without waiting for a response Zed snapped to his feet and cross stepped to the nearest man reaching into his coat to land a powerful side kick straight to the jaw. When Zed felt his foot crush the man’s teeth into pulp he felt the familiar primal joy blossoming in his chest as his combat instincts took over. Ducking a knife slash from another one of the thugs Zed reached up and grabbed the man’s knife hand and slammed his other palm into the crook of the man’s elbow. This gave Zed control of the thug’s weapon arm so he redirected the momentum of the knife back into its wielders throat, opening a red gash several inches long. The ruffian fell to the ground clutching at his neck and gurgling. The other two criminals hesitated, sensing the danger they were in now. They turned to run and bowled through what remained of the patrons of the tavern. Zed paid them no mind other than to assign his shadows to hunt them down and finish what he started. Turning back to Sully with a fixed, crooked smile plastered onto his face he sat down again in front of the whimpering old man. “Now then. We were just getting to the part where you tell me what I want to know. I’m looking for a girl that would be around the age of twenty. She would have eyes with a purplish tint, brown hair, and she went by the name Brigitte.” The entire time Zed spoke his smile never faltered, but the smile never reached his eyes. Zed calmly reached over and gripped the knife pinning Sully’s hand to the table and motioned for Sully to speak. Gasping and whimpering, Sully tried to answer “The only person I know hereabouts like that is Violet. She has purple peepers and she’s young. I don’t know where she lives.” Zed nodded and twisted the knife in Sully’s hand drawing a fresh wave of screaming. Once the screams had died down Zed demanded more, “You can do better. How can I find her?” Sully cried out “She’s with a gang! A group of smugglers. Brenner’s guys! They have a place at the docks they operate from. You can tell where it is because they have a Grey Lobster painted on the sign of their warehouse. That’s all I know, now will you please let me go?” Zed’s smile grew even wider now, looking down at Sully’s pale and sweaty face. He leaned in close and whispered into Sully’s ear “I met someone on my way here. She told me you have a bad habit involving children and some rather disgusting fantasies you like to play out. I don’t like your kind.”
By the time that Zed had finished with Sully the night was almost over. He found an inn that he could spend the day in and slipped into sleep. When he awoke the day was on its last legs, giving into the night. This night, Zed wore no disguise. He pulled on his normal suit and set out into the night. To avoid notice he took to the rooftops and made his way to the place described by Sully before his untimely death. Soon enough he found Brenner’s warehouse, the grey lobster sign made it easy. Zed found a skylight and slipped inside to drop down on top of one of the massive shelves lining the building. Throughout the warehouse there were lines of massive shelves that held hundreds of boxes. At the exits and occasionally walking through the aisles were smugglers, most of whom looked tired and not very observant. Zed crept along the top of the shelf he was on and made his way towards an elevated observing area towards the back of the warehouse. The observing area was accessible by stairs only for a normal person, but he was able to send his shadow over to stand on the ceiling the structure before switching with it. Zed could hear them talking inside. “How are our profits this month Turk?” “Just above average sir.” “Anything I should be aware of, or has it been a quiet month?” Zed stopped listening and looked for an entry point into the box. Towards the corner of the ceiling there was a vent system wide enough to fit a man almost twice Zed’s size. Zed knelt next to the opening and quietly cut out the cover of the vent to allow easy access. Slithering in head first he made sure to move slowly and carefully to avoid making any noise. As he neared the end of the vent he could still hear the drone of voices below him. He counted two people actively talking but there might have been silent bystanders he hadn’t heard yet. At the edge of the vent he peered down and took in the scene. Zed was right, there were only two people in the room. A thin man with a bald head and a large mustachios sat behind a desk and looked over papers while a younger man with an information packet talked to him. Zed’s shadow appeared behind the younger man unnoticed and Zed switched places with it, landing lightly on the balls of his feet. He slowly closed the door behind him with his foot until the click of the door alerted the two men to his presence. Brenner looked up from the papers on his desk and his face whitened. He motioned for the younger man to come to him “Sam, get behind me!” he rasped desperately. Sam turned with a start, dropped his papers he went for the blade hanging at his hip. Zed stood still and watched the two as he waited for them to realize he wasn’t here for blood. After a few seconds Brenner motioned for Sam to lower his blade as he moved before Zed, in front of his son. Standing before Zed he said “Why have you come here, master of shadows?” Zed walked between the two men and sat down on the edge of the desk. “Relax a little bit. I’m not here to hurt anyone. I got that out of my system on the way here.” Zed jested with a light tone. “I’m here looking for one of your employees. Her name used to be Brigitte but my understanding is that she now goes by the name Violet. Purplish eyes, brown hair, would be around twenty years old?” Recognition immediately dawned in Brenner’s eyes but he tried to deny knowing her. “I don’t know anyone with purple eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen purple eyes in my life.” Zed snorted in amusement, and when he spoke his tone was still light. “Very entertaining. I am not looking for her to hurt her. My intentions are actually surprisingly innocent. My business with her is of a very sensitive nature, otherwise I would simply tell you.” When Brenner made no move to say anything Zed sighed and continued. “I’m running low on patience. One way or another I’m going to find her. I intend to do her a massive favor. If you continue to refuse to aid my efforts I’m going to start taking fingers. I’ll start with your son of course.” When Brenner didn’t immediately answer Zed hopped to his feet and clapped his hands together. “Okay, I didn’t want to do-” Brenner held up his hands “NO! I can give you her address. Just don’t hurt her. She’s a good girl.” Zed held his hands out welcomingly “That’s all I wanted. See? This isn’t so bad.”
Zed Stood across the street from Violet’s apartment. It was clear to him immediately that she was poor. The building looked old, and as though it wasn’t well cared for. He climbed up the side of the building into the room window he had been told was hers. As soon as he rolled into the room and stood up he knew he was in the right place. Violet lay among a tangle of blankets on her bed, out cold. Lying next to her was a small child that could not have been more than a year old. Zed frowned. A child could complicate matters. A child was also a complication he couldn’t solve with his blades. The little boy showed signs of stirring so Zed reached down and picked him up. Zed held the child in the crook of his right arm and gently rocked it back and forth. With his left hand he tickled the child’s stomach and let the child’s tiny hands grasp onto his fingers. Zed sat down at the edge of the bed to wait for Violet to wake up with the baby gurgling happily in his arms.
